Banding machine



Feb. 16, 1943. L. R. NEWTON ,610

BANDING MACHINE Filed May 15, 1942 [owe/Z R Newton 4 INVENTOR P- BY .4? G-WW 4 ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 16, 1943 BANDING MACHINE Lowell R. Newton, Chicago, 111., assignor to Industrial Patents Corporation, Chicago, 111., a

corporation of Delaware Application May 15, 1942, Serial No. 443,061

12 Claims.

This invention relates to a machine for applying bands to cylindrical objects and is particularly designed to wrap a band or label around an article having a generally cylindrical shape such as a frankfurter.

It is an object of this invention to provide a machine for wrapping and sealing a label on an object.

It is another object of this invention to provide a machine of simplified construction for wrapping a band around a cylindrical article.

Other objects of this invention will appear as the description proceeds.

In the drawing:

Figure l is a side elevation of the mechanism forming the subject of this invention.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the machine shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on line 55 of Figure 2 showing the article in position A of Figure l and about to engage the label positioned on the label holding means.

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken on line 5--5 of Figure 2 showing the article in position 13 of Figure 1 wherein the article and label are disposed on the conveyor.

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken on line 1-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 8 is a sectional view taken on line 1-1 of Figure 2.

Figure 9 is a sectional view taken on line 1-1 of Figure 2.

The machine forming the subject of this invention is of simple construction and is designed to grasp a label and an article to which it is to be applied, within a deformable endless belt adapted to be driven through a forming horn. The forming horn is effective to curve the belt from its normally flat shape to a generally cylindrical form and by controlling the inward turning of the belt, the label may be wrapped around the article with its ends overlapped. After the label has been so disposed around the article, the overlapped ends may be subjected to sealing means to properly secure the ends together whereupon the belt passes out of the forming horn and the article may be discharged from the belt onto a suitable receiving platform.

As shown in Figure 1, an endless belt 10 is supported on suitable rollers I l rotatably mounted in the frame of the machine and any suitable means may be provided for driving the belt, the motion being transmitted to the belt through sprocket chain 12. The belt may be driven in the direction of the arrow and passes through a horn or shaping means I3 which turns the belt from its flat shape into a substantially cylindrical shape as is best shown in Figures 3 through 9.

The horn 13 at its forward end is provided with a flat apron or floor [4 which underlies the belt as it passes from the roller l l. Passing from the forward end toward the rear, the edges l5 and [6 of the apron are progressively shaped as shown in Figures 4 and 5 until it is turned into a substantially U shape disclosed in Figures 5 and 6. The walls of the horn continue to gradually change in shape from the U shape shown in Figure 5 and 6 to the cylindrical form shown in Figures '7, 8, and 9.

The deformable belt 10 being driven through the horn will pass over the apron to be gradually bent from a flat shape as shown in Figure 3 into the U shape shown in Figures 5 and 6 and then into cylindrical form as it passes from the forward end toward the rear. The walls of the horn engage the belt to gradually turn it, and the belt being deformable, it takes the shape of the horn as it is pulled therethrough. Thus the belt as it progresses through the horn is gradually turned from a flat shape into approximately a cylindrical form. In the preferred construction, the belt is of less width than the inside periphery of the horn so that as the horn drives the belt into circular form, the edges of the belt will not meet and a sealing means may be made to engage the overlapped ends of the label directly as will appear more fully below.

At the forward end of the horn, and preferably positioned at the point where the apron has been drawn into substantially a U shape, a label holding means 20 is disposed. The label holding means may be provided with a recess 2| to receive and position a printed band or label over the conveyor as shown in Figure 5 and after a label has been inserted in the recess 2| with its printed side down, the article to be banded may be passed vertically downwardly through the label holding means from position A (Figures 1 and 5) to position B (Figures 1 and 6) whereby the label is carried from the label holding means 20 onto the conveyor as best shown in Figure 6. The conveyor having been turned into a U shape by the apron, it has a large surface in contact with the article and label and frictionally holds the label around the article with the free ends of the label extending upwardly.

The conveyor moves forwardly and carries the article and label with it on its journey through the horn and as the belt is turned from the U shape shown in Figure 6 to the more cylindrical form shown in Figure 7 the label is Wrapped around the article. It will be noted that as the belt progresses, the continuation of edges l and 16 of the horn engage the belt to turn it into circular form and ultimately brush against the free ends of the label to lay them down upon the article. First one free end 23 of the label is wiped down by edge l5 and then the other end 25 is bent into overlapping relationship by edge Iii to overlay end 23 as shown in Figure 8.

When the ends of the label have been overlapped, and as the conveyor continues its forward movement, the edges l5 and iii of the horn engage the label to maintain its ends in overlapped relationship but the edges are spaced apart somewhat so that sealing means may engage the label to secure the overlapped ends together.

It should be noted that ii a glue or water soluble adhesive is being used, that moisture may be applied by any suitable means to the inner surface of the free end 25 of the label as it passes the appropriate point in its travel through the horn, such for example as the position shown in Figure '7 of the drawing. At this point the adhesive could be rendered tacky and as the label continued along its forward movement the end 25 would be sealed over end 23 at the position shown in Figure 8 and additional pressing means 27 could be utilized as shown in Figure 9 to insure proper sealing.

If a thermoplastic adhesive is used, heating means should be substituted for the pressing means ii to render the adhesive tacky and a slight pressure should be applied as the band moves along to engage the overlapped ends of the label for a sufficient length of time to insure proper binding. If a slidingpressure is apt to disturb the positioning of the band on the article it is obvious that a rolling heater or other means may be provided to engage the article and overlapped ends of the band to seal them together.

In using the present invention, a single article may be run through the forming horn on the conveyor or if for instance it is desired toband one of a string of linked frankfurters, the string of connected links may be run through the forming horn and the label need be applied only to the one frankfurter to be labeled.

It is not necessary that the article to be labeled be cylindrical for any articles of generally uniform shape may be run through such a machine. A suitable horn may be provided to cooperate with an article of most any regular shape.

This structure therefore provides a very simple and rugged device for labeling a batch of uniformly shaped articles and while as here shown, the labels are manually placed on the label supports 20, automatic means could be provided for feeding labels into proper position. Also it is conceivable that automatic means could be co-ordinated with the label feed to supply the articles to be banded to the label holding station in timed relation to carry a label off of the holding means and into the conveyor.

Further, in banding articles of any particular shape, it may be that the sizes of the article may vary somewhat. This being the case, the horn l3 may be made of some flexible material such as a resilient metal whereby the larger articles passing through the horn will expandthe horn. The free ends of the label will be engaged sufficiently by the edges l5 and I6 of the expanded horn in the manner above described to cause the label to be applied properly to the article.

The horn should have an inner diameter slightly larger than that of the article so that the article and conveyor may pass freely therethrough. In using the flexible construction, however, it will be noted that if a larger article is passed through, the horn will be expanded and the machine will not bind nor will the article be injured. The function served by the flexible horn is of particular importance in using the machine for banding frankfurters wherein the size of the product cannot be controiled to a very fine degree.

The herein discloed machine provides one way of accomplishing this invention. Many modifications thereof may occur to those skilled in the art, all of which are comprehended within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A labeling machine comprising a driven deformable conveying means, a shaping means positioned in the path of movement of the conveying means for deforming it, means to drive the conveying means to pull it through the shaping means whereby when an article with a label partially wrapped therearound is deposited on the conveying means it will be drawn through the shaping means on the conveying means, said shaping means being formed to cause the deformable conveying means to engage the label and wrap it around the article with its ends overlapped in which position the label may be afiixed to the article. 1

2. A labeling machine comprising a driven deformable conveying means a shaping means positioned in the path of movement of the conveying means for deforming it, a label holding means positioned over the conveying means and at the forward end of the shaping means, means to drive the conveying means to pull it through the shaping means, whereby when a label is placed on said holding means an article may be passed through the holding means to partially Wrap the label around the article whereupon the article and label may be deposited on the conveying means to be drawn through the shaping means, said shaping means being formed to cause the deformable conveying means and label to be wrapped around the article with the ends of the label overlapped, andsealing means cooperating with the overlapped ends of the label to cause them to be secured together in order to affix the label to the article.

3. A labeling machine comprising a driven deformable belt, a shaping horn positioned in the path of movement of the belt for deforming it, a label holding means positioned over the belt and at the forward end of the horn, whereby when a label is placed on-said holding means anarticle may be passed through the holding means to partially wrap the label around the article whereupon the article and label may be deposited on the belt to be drawn through the shaping horn, said horn being formed to cause the deformable belt and label to be wrapped around the article with the ends of the label overlapped, and sealing means cooperatingwith the overlapped ends of the label to cause them to be secured together in order to arhx the label to the article.

4. A labeling machine comprising a driven deformable endless belt, a horn positioned in the path of movement of the belt for deforming said belt, a label holding means positioned over the belt'and at the forward end of the horn, means to drive the belt to pull it through the horn, whereby when a label is placed on said holding means an article may be passed through the holding means to partially wrap the label around the article whereupon the article and label may be deposited on the belt to be drawn through the horn with the belt, said horn being shaped to cause the belt and label to be wrapped around the article with the ends of the label overlapped, and sealing means cooperating with the label to cause the overlapped ends of the label to be secured together in order to aiiix the label to the article.

5. A labeling machine comprising a driven deformable endless belt, a generally cylindrical horn for deforming said belt, said belt being of less width than the inside periphery of said horn, a label holding means positioned over the belt and at the forward end of the horn, means to drive the belt to pull it through the horn, whereby when a label is placed on said holding means an article may be passed through the holding means to partially wrap the label around the article whereupon the article and label may be deposited on the belt to be drawn through the horn with the belt, said horn being shaped to cause the belt and label to be wrapped around the article with the ends of the label overlapped, and sealing means engaging directly with the overlapped ends of the label to secure them together in order to afiix the label to the article.

6. A labeling machine comprising a driven deformable belt, a flexible horn for deforming said belt, a label holding means positioned over the belt and at the forward end of the horn, means to drive the belt to pull it through the horn, whereby when a label is placed on said holding means an article may be passed through the holding means to partially wrap the label around the article whereupon the article and label may be deposited on the belt to be drawn through the horn with the belt, said horn being shaped to cause the belt and label to be wrapped around the article with the ends of the label overlapped, and sealing means cooperating with the label to cause the overlapped ends of the label to be secured together in order to affix the label to the article.

7. A labeling machine comprising a driven deformable endless belt, a cylindrical horn for deforming said belt, said horn passing entirely around said belt but having its edges over the belt spaced from each other, a label holding means positioned over the belt and at the forward end of the horn, means to drive the belt to pull it through the horn, whereby when a label is placed on said holding means an article may be passed through the holding means to partially wrap the label around the article whereupon the article and label may be deposited in the belt to be drawn through the horn with the belt, said horn being shaped to cause the belt and label to be wrapped around the article with the ends of the label overlapped, and sealing means positioneol between said edges and cooperating with the label to cause the overlapped ends of the label to be secured together in order to affix the label to the article.

8. A labeling machine comprising a driven deformable belt, a horn positioned in the path of movement of the belt for deforming said belt, said horn changing in shape from its inlet to its outlet end progressively from a flat to a substantially cylindrical shape, a label holding means positioned over the belt at a point where said horn is substantially U shaped, means to drive the belt to pull it through the horn, whereby when a label is placed on said holding means an article may be passed through the holding means to partially wrap the label around the article whereupon the article and label may be deposited on the belt to be drawn through the horn with the belt, said horn being so cylindrically shaped to cause the belt and label to be wrapped around the article with the ends of the label overlapped, and sealing means cooperating with the label to cause the overlapped ends of the label to be secured together in order to afiix the label to the article.

9. A method of applying labels to articles comprising presenting an article with a label partially wrapped therearound to a deformable holding means, deforming the holding means to complete the wrapping of the label around the article, and sealing the label onto the article.

10. A method of applying labels to articles comprising placing a label in the path of an article moving toward a deformable holding means, moving an article through said path to engage the label and partially wrap it therearound as the article is presented to the holding means, deforming the holding means to complete the wrapping of the label around the article, and sealing the label onto the article.

11. A method of applying labels to articles comprising presenting an article with a label partially wrapped therearound to a movable and deformable holding means, moving the holding means and progressively deforming it to complete the wrapping of the label around the article, and sealing the label onto the article.

12. A method of applying labels to articles comprising presenting an article with a label partially wrapped therearound to a movable and deformable holding means, moving the holding means while progressively deforming first one portion and then another portion of the holding means to complete the wrapping of the label around the article with the ends of the label overlapped, and sealing the overlapped ends of the label onto the article.

LOWELL R. NEWTON. 

